


The Birthday Promise

by HiddenSt0rms



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday, Birthday Party, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grieving, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kid Ace, Kid Luffy, Monkey D. Luffy-centric, Nakamaship, New Year's Eve, New Years, post ace's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22030864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenSt0rms/pseuds/HiddenSt0rms
Summary: “I’ll be honest, I used to get sad about it. I mean, who cares about my birthday when it’s New Year’s?” Ace bends down to Luffy’s level. “But that was until I met you, and now you’re my only birthday buddy. Luffy, will you promise to never forget about my birthday?”With the help of his nakama, Luffy keeps his promise to Ace.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 13
Kudos: 207





	The Birthday Promise

“Don’t tell me you’re already tired.” Ace teases when Luffy nestles up against him on the couch, a hand rubbing his eye sleepily. He’s in pajamas, blue ones with little sailboats. 

“...m’not tired.” Luffy slurs, voice muffled into Ace’s shirt. 

For once, Ace decides to just leave him alone, simply ruffling his hair. Staying up until midnight is so very hard for a seven year old, but Luffy insists he can do it, and it’s adorable to watch him try. It’s New Year’s Eve, and the brothers are at home away from the chaos and partying taking place around Foosha Village. There’s bound to be crazy, dangerous drunks running around, and Ace wants Luffy to have no part of it. 

Besides, something even more exciting is happening tonight.

Ace stays there, arm wrapped around the boy, eyes anxiously glued to the clock. He tries to be quiet for Luffy’s sake, he truly does, but he can’t take it anymore when the clock is so close to twelve. He jumps up and yells, “Hey, Luffy, wake up! Ten seconds! Only _ten_ more seconds!”

“Huh?” Luffy blinks slowly, frustrated at being woken up when he’s so darn tired - wait, no, he’s not tired! “What’s that mean? Ace?”

Far too excited to answer, Ace proudly (and loudly) counts down from ten until the clock reaches midnight. “FINALLY! Happy birthday to me! I’m _officially_ eleven years old!” He cheers.

Luffy yawns. “I thought it was a new year?” 

“It is, but it’s also my birthday! It’s both.” Ace says, perhaps with some resentment.

“How can it be both?”

“I just happened to be born on New Year’s Day. Some luck.” Ace shrugs. 

“Oh. Well, happy birthday!”

“It’s not officially a birthday yet,” Ace says, and with a cunning smile, pulls out a miniature cake hidden behind the couch. “Don’t tell Garp I’m giving you cake. He’d say, ‘marines don’t eat cake, they need to be in tip-top shape,’ but if you ask me, every rule has an exception. You can’t _not_ eat cake on your birthday! I even made it myself.”

A slice of chocolate cake now in hand, it suddenly all clicks in Luffy’s head. “Wait!” He sits up sharply. “If it’s your birthday, we need to have a party! Let’s have one tomorrow!” 

Luffy thinks back to his birthday, when Ace had given him a mini-celebration with party hats and everything. And here, Luffy had done nothing but use the birthday boy as a pillow. Ace even had to make his own birthday cake, probably because all the bakers in town were too backed up in orders for New Year’s parties to make one cake for one kid. 

“No can do. Everyone in town gets sloppy drunk this night of the year. Tomorrow’ll be a wasteland - everyone will have the most massive hangover! They’ll all have headaches and be throwing up and be totally useless! So no party for me.” Ace says this between bites, and finishes it all off with a laugh. 

Luffy doesn’t really know what any of that means, but he gets one thing out of it. “How can you be happy when no one’ll celebrate your birthday?”

Ace’s smile falters for a second, then it returns as he looks back at Luffy. “Can you keep a secret?”

Luffy eagerly nods.

“I’ll be honest, I used to get sad about it. I mean, who cares about my birthday when it’s New Year’s?” Ace bends down to Luffy’s level. “But that was until I met you, and now you’re my only birthday buddy. Luffy, will you promise to never forget about my birthday?”

“I promise!” 

And they promise in the most law-binding, serious agreement ever known to man - a pinky promise.

* * *

“What do you mean you can’t go?”

Sanji turned to face his captain, along with the others ondeck. The crew had docked on an island to go to a New Year’s Eve festival with fireworks, food, drinking, dancing, and music - all things Luffy enjoyed and with no danger on the horizon. So why that’d been his answer when Sanji asked if he was ready to go was beyond everyone.

“What I said?” Luffy repeated with a genuine shrug. He’d been pretty straightforward, at least he thought so, but his crew still looked alarmed and confused. “I mean, I’m not saying you guys can’t go. I’m just saying I’d rather stay here.”

“Are you feeling sick?” Chopper asked, getting ready to check for a fever and put up a fuss, because that’d be just the thing Luffy would do, not tell the others he’s sick in fear of them worrying.

“No,” Luffy said honestly, and it was true, he wasn’t pale or showed any other signs of illness. “I just can’t go, but I don’t want you guys to miss it.” 

“But _why_ can’t you go?” Nami asked with a bite to her tone. Luffy didn’t seem to register that he needed to give a specific reason, because it wasn’t like him to just bail out on plans last minute, especially fun plans. Not at all.

“Because I made a promise.” Luffy said this with such vagueness, the same way one does if what they’re saying is common knowledge. But it wasn’t, and no one had any idea of where their captain was coming from.

“A promise to what? Can you elaborate?” Nami pressed on, eyeing the boy up and down.

“I can’t tell you guys because you’ll be sad, and I don’t want my nakama to be sad on such a fun holiday,” Luffy smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “But look, I promise I’m fine. I’m just not going, okay?”

Everyone exchanged worried glances as Sanji turned something over in his head. “Then we shouldn’t go either,” He concluded. “I don’t think any of us feel comfortable going if we don’t know why you’re not.”

“But I already gave you my reason..?”

“I’m afraid it’s too vague for us to understand, dear captain. My brain hurts from trying to understand, that is if I had one! YOHO- “

“Yes, he’s our captain,” Zoro spoke up, cutting off the poorly timed skull joke. “And he’s made it clear what he wants and what his expectations are. A crew that doesn’t respect this is no crew at all.” 

“But he’s keeping secrets from us.” Usopp accidentally voiced his thought aloud, and feared for his life when he saw Zoro’s eye flicker with poison, but Luffy spoke up before Zoro could. Hearing that had struck a nerve within his heart; what kind of captain kept secrets from his nakama for whom he cared for so much?

“It’s his birthday tomorrow -” Luffy began, and there was no doubt who ‘his’ referred to, and guilt swarmed the crew’s hearts. 

“Oh, that’s okay, Luffy. We’re so sorry for pushing you to talk about it. If you want to stay here, we perfectly understand.” Nami said with growing panic, but Luffy... _smiled._ For real this time.

“Now that I think about it, he - Ace - would’ve wanted me to talk about it. When we were kids, he felt like no one cared about his birthday because it was outshone by New Year’s, so I promised him that I’d never forget about his birthday,” Luffy grew a bit more solemn. “It’s still his birthday tomorrow, and it’s especially important now that I keep my promise and not forget.”

“And going to the festival would make you feel like you’re ignoring his birthday. Am I correct, captain?” Robin said sympathetically. 

“You got it!”

It was simple, really. It was Ace’s birthday tomorrow, and when it’s someone’s birthday, you celebrate it. Distance can’t counter that, whether that be by physical miles or death. 

“Well then, how about we celebrate it right here, right now on the ship?” Sanji said, treating the suggestion with the same casualness as when he suggests the crew eat dinner outside.

Luffy shook his head. This was exactly what he’d feared. “Wait, no! What about the festival? You guys were looking forward to it so much! See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you guys! I can’t take away from your holiday!” 

Franky placed a metal hand on his captain’s shoulder. “New Year’s comes every year, but a super brother like that comes once in a lifetime. He deserves it, wouldn’t you think?”

Luffy looked around in shock. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea and worth replacing the festival with, so he agreed. 

“Well, if we’re going to have a birthday party, we had better get started, right?” Robin said, smiling.

* * *

“Oops!”

Spilled flour drizzled off the counter and onto the floor, along with the broken measuring cup that had slipped from Luffy’s rubber hands. The culprit cringed at the sight - a mess in Sanji’s kitchen, a broken cooking utensil, and a wasted ingredient. Sanji would surely say it was a mistake to have let him help with the cake and literally kick him out.

“Are you okay? It didn’t cut you, did it?” Was surprisingly the first thing out of the chef’s mouth. He rushed over to check Luffy’s wrists for any blood amongst the white powder, inspecting each and every corner carefully.

Luffy blinked. “I’m okay, I’m s - “

“You don’t have to apologize, Luffy. It’s okay, really. Accidents happen.” _Are you really okay, Luffy? With your brother not alive for his birthday? You can’t be okay._

Luffy couldn’t believe that there were no traces of anger in Sanji’s demeanor. He was simply sweeping up the glass shards and cleaning up the flour, no curse words, no threats. 

“See? It’s all fixed. It’s all fixed...” Sanji narrated, akin to how one does around a child. _How can we fix your pain, Luffy?_

Much to Luffy’s surprise, Sanji wiped Luffy’s hands down with a damp towel, very delicately, the same way Chopper cleans wounds. 

“I’m really okay, Sanji!” And Luffy laughed. 

Luffy laughed. He was laughing, somehow, through the worst pain one could experience. And it didn’t put Sanji at ease at all, so he turned their attention back to their project, glancing down at the recipe. “Next, we need to crack two eggs. Do you know how to do that?”

“I _can,_ but it’s probably not the _right_ way.” 

Sanji chuckled. “Alright, I’ll show you. It’s easy to learn. You hold it like this, see, and gently tap it against the side of the bowl.” 

But when Luffy tried, the end result was nearly all of the shells going into the side bowl. He looked up worriedly. “We can still use it, right?”

“Technically, we could,” Sanji drawled. He’d certainly find a way around it on any other day, where instinct gave him strict orders not to waste food and supplies were scarce, but the brother of the future Pirate King deserved the very best cake possible. “But let’s try again. Ace deserves only the best, right?”

This time, Sanji gently helped Luffy crack them correctly. He even let Luffy stir around the chocolate batter, and didn’t complain when he accidentally knocked the whole container of sprinkles into the mix, or when he licked the spoon and put it back in the mixing bowl without thinking (they just wouldn’t tell anyone, especially Chopper).

Sanji was being patient, and genuinely so.

After a while, Nami and Robin came into the kitchen looking disappointed. 

“We couldn’t find any ghost peppers in the market, but we found some that seemed really close to it.” Nami said, dropping off the shopping bags on the counter. 

Robin rummaged through to show Luffy the variety of peppers - but they weren’t the _right_ ones. “Will these be alright, captain?”

Luffy beamed at his nakama’s work. “Yeah, that’s fine! He loves those. Anything spicy, really.” 

But Nami wasn’t so sure. “Are you sure? I know you said they were - are - his favorite food, but...this was all we could do.” _This is all we can do for you, Luffy, and yet it will never take the pain away. What else can we do? Tell us, Luffy._

“Hey, it’s fine, really. I promise,” Luffy sensed some distress in Nami’s voice, and in everyone else for that matter. “You guys are acting kinda weird.” 

The other three glanced at each other, and Nami lightened the mood with a literal point of her finger. “Says the same guy who tried to get out of having a good time as if we wouldn’t notice.”

Sanji poured the batter into its respective tray and picked it up before Luffy could get to it. “Let me put the cake in the oven. You’ve already helped so much.” _I don’t want you to burn yourself and get hurt even more, Luffy._ “Alright, it should be ready in a half hour or so. All that’s left to make is his actual birthday dinner. You want to help, captain?”

“Well, if I’m being honest, cooking seems to be more of your thing. I wanna see what Franky and Usopp are working on!”

“Are you sure? As much as you always want to help me cook.”

“You said Ace needs only the best, which means he needs dinner from only the best chef, and that’s you!” Luffy flashed a smile and bounced out of the galley, and the remaining relaxed.

“He’s okay,” Robin said gently. “I think what we’re doing means more to him than we’ll ever know.”

“I just can’t help but worry, you know? He’s always so easygoing and lighthearted, and yet this was important enough to him to bring up. I just want everything to be perfect for Luffy, for Ace, because they both deserve it,” Nami said, and with tears welling in her eyes, added, “And Luffy’s in so much pain, I can’t even imagine it.”

“You both are right, which is why I’m determined to make this dinner rival all of the birthday dinners in existence. What all exactly did you buy? Let’s see what I can do.”

* * *

For a cake supervised by a world-class chef, it was far from professional restaurant quality.

The cake turned out crunchy because of the sprinkles and the proportions of ingredients were off. Some areas of icing turned out more pink than red when Luffy didn’t add enough food dye, and the colors ran together. There was a miniature fiery fondant fist in the middle to live up to Ace’s nickname, but it was slightly melted because Luffy put it in the cake before it completely cooled.

The cake was perfect - it was Luffy’s, and he knew that Ace would’ve - would - love it.

And the dinner itself was also uniquely creative, each item incorporating red, orange, and yellow to create an overall warm color scheme - a huge fruit and vegetable tray organized by color to look like a flame, pastas and steaks kicked up with the peppers, various spicy finger foods sprinkling the table, and fruity cocktails made with only the freshest of vodkas. 

The general atmosphere was also perfect. Brook played different versions of ‘happy birthday’ that he’d learned over his course of travelling, and when that grew old, switched it to upbeat tunes he used to play during his old crew’s birthday celebrations. Each song of course had its own story behind it, and the conversations extended for hours. 

After Ace’s birthday dinner and dessert, there was one final thing to do. 

With the help of Usopp and Chopper in heavy point, Franky set off their fireworks, them too sporting a warm color scheme. They’d been specifically designed to resemble fire, the way the explosions steadily grew in intensity, and how they trickled especially slowly out of existence. Some patterns even mimicked Ace’s popular fight moves, keeping the show action-packed while still beautiful.

They topped that festival’s New Year’s fireworks in every way possible. 

And with that, Luffy kept his promise. He waited until the party ended and his crew turned into their quarters for the night before coming out onto _Sunny’s_ deck, alone. He leaned against the railing, taking in the horizon bleeding into the equally dark seawater, and smiled as a sea breeze sent chills up his spine.

“Happy birthday, Ace.”

And a new annual tradition was born.


End file.
